title: Pulmonary artery pressure, gender, menopause, and pregnancy in schistosomiasis-associated pulmonary hypertension.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Schistosomiasis-associated pulmonary arterial hypertension (SPAH) is a major concern worldwide. However, the role of gender-specific contributing factors in SPAH is unknown.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  We investigated how systolic pulmonary artery pressure (SPAP) values and the presence of severe SPAP relate to gender, menopausal status, and pregnancy history in SPAH patients.
  
  
  METHODS
  Seventy-nine patients diagnosed with SPAH from 2000 to 2009 were assessed and 66 were enrolled in the study. Information about age, menopausal status, pregnancy, echocardiography-derived SPAP, and invasive mean pulmonary artery pressure (mPAP) was collected from medical records. The relation between values of SPAP and mPAP and their agreement for severe disease were assessed. Regression models assessed the association of gender, menopausal status, and pregnancy history with SPAP values and the presence of severe SPAP.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Moderate correlation and good agreement for severe disease were found between mPAP and SPAP. Mean SPAP values were similar for men and women. A trend toward higher values of SPAP was found for non-menopausal women compared to men. Higher SPAP values were found for menopausal compared to non-menopausal women; the values were non-significant after adjustment for age. Pregnancy history had no association with SPAP. Menopause and positive pregnancy had no association with severe SPAP.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  In SPAH patients, neither gender, nor menopausal status, nor pregnancy history showed independent correlation with SPAP values assessed by echocardiography.
authors.forename: Anderson C
authors.initials: AC
authors.lastname: Armstrong
authors.forename: Ângela M P
authors.initials: ÂM
authors.lastname: Bandeira
authors.forename: Luis C L
authors.initials: LC
authors.lastname: Correia
authors.forename: Humberto C O
authors.initials: HC
authors.lastname: Melo
authors.forename: Carlos A M
authors.initials: CA
authors.lastname: Silveira
authors.forename: Eugênio
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Albuquerque
authors.forename: Jeová C
authors.initials: JC
authors.lastname: Moraes
authors.forename: Antônio M L
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Silva
authors.forename: João A C
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Lima
authors.forename: Dário C
authors.initials: DC
authors.lastname: Sobral Filho
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D062186:Arterial Pressure / Q000502:physiology*; D015150:Echocardiography, Doppler; D065627:Familial Primary Pulmonary Hypertension; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D006976:Hypertension, Pulmonary / Q000209:etiology* / Q000503:physiopathology; D008297:Male; D008593:Menopause / Q000502:physiology*; D008875:Middle Aged; D011247:Pregnancy; D011651:Pulmonary Artery / Q000503:physiopathology; D012016:Reference Values; D017584:Reproductive History; D012552:Schistosomiasis / Q000150:complications* / Q000503:physiopathology; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D012737:Sex Factors